Originally Posted By: Doug Hillary
Hi,
Apollo14 - There is a lot of behind the publicity work that results in OEMs Approving or endorsing lubricant.
.....
This article - thanks to
LUBE REPORT, Volume 12, Issue 14 from 12/4/2012 gives some insights into the needs of continuing lubricant development. (recent issues in China has exacerbated their issue own issues on the same front)
.....
Schenk said specification writers – and the lubricants industry – will have more work to do in the future. Daimler has already begun work on the next Mercedes-Benz upgrade. One of the priorities for that update will be to require that oils be thinner in order to further improve fuel economy.
“It’s clear, with the next specification we will have to go to lower viscosity,” he said.
ENDS
Thanks Doug. I've edited my quote of your post just to zero in on a few things.
Firstly, thanks for sharing such an informative article. I have no doubt that there's a lot of work that goes into formulating lubricants but once the tests are established, many lubricants go on to meet those standards. One just has to go to some of the Mercedes sheets to see the oil choices available worldwide.
However, are you saying that when the manufacturer endorses / recommends a particular lubricant, that on average, across all the tests required to meet the standard, that lubricant actually performed the best and by a meaningful margin?
In the case of Nissan, do you think they strongly recommend M1 0w40 because the engineers are being cautious and just haven't tested other lubricants that have similar endorsements to M1 0w40 or is it that there is something particularly special about M1 0w40 that they don't expect to find in other competing oils?
It's also interesting to hear that the European manufacturers are planning to go to lower viscosities in future. What is revealing in that article is that along with going thinner, they are going to have to improve performance to meet other criteria. Thus I can see how in the years ahead we'll have longer term Euro owners complaining that the move to thinner oil was for CAFE and that "thicker oil protects better" without having the insight you've shared with us that these newer oils also improve performance in other areas.
Lastly, if you get a chance, it would be great to have your thoughts on my Euro oil UOA:
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3464773/PU_Euro_5w40._5209_miles._4375
I understand one data point is not the best but any recommendations would be most welcome.